


When Nerds Meet

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Series: Warning Labels [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Artist Castiel, Dean Is Best Big Brother, High School AU, Nerd Castiel, Nerd Sam Winchester, Pre-Slash, Writer Sam Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-16
Packaged: 2018-05-13 17:54:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5711647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Winchester boys are both looking forward to this year.  Dean's set to graduate at the end of the semester, finally, and Sam's just looking forward to finishing a semester at the same school he started it at.  John promised they could stay for the whole semester.  One reason Sam thinks he's going to like this school is a blue-eyed boy he sees every time he turns around.  One of the reasons Dean thinks he's going to like this school, in addition to all the pretty girls, is the nerd he has two classes with who's willing to spend five minutes debating the merits of Led Zeppelin II and Led Zeppelin IV.</p><p>Note: the underage warning is for the series, not for this particular work, and mostly precautionary.  At least the first few parts will not have any explicitly underage sex involved.  (Some of Dean's girlfriends may be 17, but their ages are never given beyond "high school senior".)  Sam and Cas are 20 months apart, with Sam being 15 and Cas 16 the first time they have sex.  I work at a high school, so I know this is not nearly as uncommon as certain people would like us to believe, but my policy on potentially triggering or squicky situations is better to overtag than undertag.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. January 21st

Sam was going crazy. That was the only explanation. The blue-eyed boy couldn’t actually be everywhere, every time he turned around. It just seemed that way. It’s not even like they had a class together, except athletics. Even there, Sam joined the distance runners while the boy was apparently into field events.

“You’re explosive, kid,” Coach Kelley said. “You sure you don’t wanna go for sprinting? You’ve got the mile and two-mile easy if you want ‘em, but sprints are where the glory is.”

“Sprints are also where my brother is,” Sam said, pointing out Dean. “He’s a senior, I can switch next year if I decide I want to.”

The coach smiled knowingly. “Rivalry issues?”

Sam shrugged. “Nah, we just don’t wanna compete against each other. I play soccer, so I’m good with the long runs, and Dean’s the one who cares about the glory.”

“Fair enough,” the coach said.

 

Over dinner – spaghetti – Dean talked enthusiastically about the school, much to Sam’s amusement. “If I had to pick anywhere to spend an entire semester, I’m glad we picked here. Can’t believe Dad’s letting us stay until June! Hot girls, cool guys, even the nerds here aren’t half bad. There’s this kid I have, like, all but two classes with even though he’s a junior. Complete nerd, but we spent half of stats arguing music, and he’s in the engineering class with me. How about you, meet anyone cool?”

“My Latin teacher?” Sam suggested, and Dean snorted. “Nah, I got the ‘Look a new kid what a freak’ treatment I always get. One weird thing, I have all my freshman classes with Hannah Engel and my advanced classes with her big sister Rachel.”

“That is a little weird. Which one are you gonna go for?”

Sam rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help the huff of laughter. “I just met them, Dean, I’m not gonna go after either of them. I’m not you.”


	2. January 30th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas comes over to study with Dean. Dean isn't there, so Sam gets to talk to him. Sam promptly embarrasses himself multiple times, but Cas doesn't mind a bit.

Sam kept seeing Blue Eyes everywhere. He didn’t exactly make friends, but the shiny new toy stopped being fun for the bullies after a few days since Sam wouldn’t either break down or fight back. Sam got to hear all about Dean’s friends, specifically the girls. At first it was general hot girls, but Dean quickly settled on a British girl named Bela. Sam thought she sounded like bad news, but Dean didn’t care. He also kept going on about Cas, the nerd with the good taste in music. Sam thought it was odd that Dean’s best friend was a nerd, since Dean had always sworn that Sam was all the nerd Dean could take, but Dean seemed happy.

Dean found Sam as they were changing for track practice. “Hey, I’m driving Bela home after this. Cas is supposed to come over later to study for our statistics test and kick around ideas for this engineering project. I should be back but if I’m not, let him in and get him a Coke or something, okay?”

“And I’ll know it’s Cas because…” Sam prompted.

“No one else would go to a friend’s house to study in a tie and trench coat.”

Something about that made Sam stop and think, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “That works. Have fun!”

 

Promptly at six, there was a knock on the door, and Sam wasn’t at all surprised that Dean hadn’t made it back yet. Sam looked through the peephole and had to bite back a surprised noise. That explained what had bugged him earlier. It was the kid with the blue eyes. Sam had noticed the weird clothes, but they didn’t stick in his memory the way the eyes had. Sam opened the door. “Hey, uh… Cas, right?”

Cas tilted his head in confusion. “You know my name?”

“Well, no, not exactly, it’s just…” Sam stopped and forced a breath. “Dean told me you were coming over and he might not be back, so I should let you in.”

“I see.”

“So, uh, come in?” Sam headed for the kitchen, noticing that Cas slipped off his shoes before following. “Dean drove his girlfriend home after practice, he should be back any minute. Want a Coke or something?”

“Thank you, I would,” Cas said. Sam grabbed two cans from the refrigerator. He popped one open to hand to Cas, and then opened the other for himself.

This was as far as he’d prepared himself for. What should he do now? He headed for the living room, where his own homework was waiting for him. Cas followed, taking a seat on the couch while Sam sprawled on the floor with his backpack.

Cas looked over at the map Sam was coloring. “Does the teacher actually believe we learn anything from that?”

Sam laughed a little. “I have no idea. This is a complete waste of time for me, I know my maps pretty well. I don’t even really need the basically free hundred.” Cas raised an eyebrow and Sam ducked his head, realizing how that sounded. He wished he’d picked one of his other assignments.

Cas reached into his bag and pulled out a sketchpad and a box of pencils. “I usually ended up painting my maps. I drove Mrs. Dunn crazy because I brought in these maps done on posterboard. She couldn’t argue that I hadn’t done the assignment, but it meant she had to figure out what to do with them all.”

“Wait… those posters she has in the back of the room, with the calligraphy? You did those?” This was just not fair. How was Sam supposed to even talk to this guy?

Cas looked up from his sketchpad, a surprised look on his face. “She kept those?”

“Well, yeah. Who wouldn’t? Those things are gorgeous,” Sam said.

“I didn’t have an art class that year, due to scheduling issues,” Cas said, looking back at his sketchbook. “Doing those posters was more than just a mild rebellion against pointless assignments for me. I did similar things in biology with the cells and organ system diagrams.”

Sam laughed at that. “There’s not exactly much room for flexibility for freshmen, is there. Four mandatory classes and two ‘highly recommended’, doesn’t leave time for interests if you’re in band or athletics.”

“Exactly. It does get better junior and senior year. What language did you choose?” Cas asked.

“I, uh…” Sam felt himself getting a little warm. He’d already come off as bragging once. “Dad chose for me, made me take Latin. After two days the teacher made me take a placement test and I ended up in Latin III. I still have to take it, though, because I don’t actually get credit for I or II. I wanted to take Spanish or German.”

Cas smiled at that. “Well, it’s not the most practical of languages unless you have certain career plans like medicine, but it’s a noble language that’s had a lot of influence on our own. And it’s an even bigger basis for Spanish, so if you go that way with your electives, you’ll have it somewhat easier. I picked it because I’m Catholic and a lot of the prayers and stuff just sound better in Latin. Sometimes I wish I’d stuck with it instead of taking statistics… like right now.”

“But if you weren’t in statistics you wouldn’t have had that music argument with Dean the first day and he’d probably have blown you off as just another nerd,” Sam pointed out.

“True enough, I suppose. I also spent hours… days, really… debating between engineering and physics.” Cas chuckled. “I’ve no idea how I’ll manage choosing my classes in college when there are so many more options.”

“Well, do you have your major picked out?” Sam asked.

“No, not yet. Most likely science or art, with the other as a minor, but those are both very big areas. I’m still fighting with myself over what to take next year. Obviously I have to take English, and US history since I didn’t this year, and I know for sure I’m taking calculus and astronomy and staying in athletics and art. That leaves one open slot and five classes I’m interested in.”

“Wait, don’t you have to take precal to take calculus?” Sam asked.

“I’m taking that now. Yes, I know, I’m taking two math classes voluntarily which means I can’t possibly protest when people call me a nerd.” Cas didn’t look the least embarrassed about it, though.

“Three, sort of,” Sam corrected. “Dean says engineering is, like, half math.”

Cas laughed. “I suppose so. What about you? Anything decided about your future?”

“Not really,” Sam said. “I figure next year I’ll take a year of theatre with the spot that comes open, get my fine arts credit. I can’t draw or sing or dance or play an instrument, but surely I can find something to do even if I can’t act either, right? But when things break open junior and senior year, I don’t even know. Maybe I’ll like theatre enough to stick with it. Or pick up Spanish, like I wanted to do to begin with. Most likely I’ll just take whatever random crap I can find. I do plan on staying in math and science through senior year.”

“You know, my freshman year I was so sure that I’d be done with math by now and out of science next year so I could focus on my art. You only have to take three, and the algebra and physical science I took in eighth grade count for high school credit. But then I fell in love with math in geometry, and science in chemistry. Don’t get me wrong, I liked biology, but chemistry is just…” Cas shook his head, not quite sure how to explain it. “I’d planned on taking astronomy all along. I’ve always loved the sky, it’s like God’s canvas.”

“Yeah, that’s one I do know. I’ve been staring at the stars since I was a little kid.” Sam put away the finished map and glanced toward the door. “I’m sorry about Dean. I don’t know what’s keeping him.”

“Bela, probably,” Cas said with a shrug. “Don’t worry about it, I’m not surprised. One time last year Bela found out her boyfriend had plans for after dropping her off and she kept him there for four hours. She always does this.”

“And you came over on time anyway?” Sam asked.

“You’d prefer I took the risk that Dean was a match for Bela and let him think I was standing him up?” Cas asked. “Besides, if I’m here, I’m not at home.”

“Oh, yeah, I can see that,” Sam said. “There are times when Dad’s here I’ll do just about anything to get out.”

“And it did come with benefits. I found out that the kid with the long hair I’ve been seeing everywhere is Dean’s Sammy, so now I don’t have to decide between stalking you or going crazy.” Cas tilted his head, looking at Sam. “Somehow you don’t look like a Sammy. More like a Sam.”

“Thank you! Dean’s the only one I still let call me that. I prefer Sam.” He let his hair swing into his face as he dug through his bag for his geometry homework. Cas had noticed him? And now he was making a total dork of himself. In front of the brilliant, talented, and entirely too hot boy. At least doing his geometry homework he could show that he actually was smart, not just a bragging dork.

He’d made a good start when Cas suddenly sat up. “Sam Winchester! That’s where I’d heard the name!”

“Huh?”

“It’s kind of inexcusable I didn’t realize right away. Last week when I was putting up my pole, I overheard Coach Kelley asking Coach Clarkson for permission to put a freshman on varsity. He swore you’d make at least regionals in the two-mile, maybe farther, and that you had a chance at doing well in the mile too. Clarkson agreed.”

“Really? Wow.” They hadn’t told Sam yet that he was on varsity, and he was thrilled. “That’s… wow.”

Cas was grinning. “Track meets will be better now. Sure, we’re all in different events, but at least I’ll have someone to hang out with, right?”

“If Dean’s not too busy flirting,” Sam said. “He’s kind of a jerk that way.”

“And Sam’s a little bitch,” Dean retorted. “Hey Cas, sorry about that, Bela…”

Cas waved him off. “She does that. Sam was good company and I had my sketchpad, it was no bother.”

“Cool.” Dean plopped down on the other end of the couch. “Study then pizza, or order then study?”

“Order then study. When the pizza gets here we’ll know it’s time to take a break.” Cas put away his sketchbook and got out some paper and his statistics book.

Dean didn’t invite people over often, but Sam knew the drill from having gone to others’ houses to work on something. He started collecting his things. Dean noticed and raised an eyebrow. “Going somewhere?”

“To my room? So I won’t bug you and Cas?” Sam said.

Dean shrugged and looked over at Cas. “Your call.”

Cas smiled. “If you insist, but I don’t mind you staying out here. If we won’t disturb you, of course.”

Sam felt a rush of warmth. “Don’t let Dean sing and I’ll be fine,” he joked as he settled back in.

Dean rolled his eyes as he placed the pizza order. Sam had switched over to working on an English essay by the time the pizza arrived. Cas jumped up at the knock. Sam grabbed plates and Dean got another round of Cokes.

“Hey, did you show Sammy your drawing?” Dean asked around a mouthful of pizza.

“No, but he’s seen some anyway, apparently one of my former teachers kept the maps I did to annoy her,” Castiel said. “He was busy with homework and I was sketching.”

“You gotta show him the one of the angel fight, it’s great,” Dean said.

“Some other time. I don’t have that book with me.” Castiel looked a bit uncomfortable as he picked up his statistics book to resume practicing.

 

Cas left around 9:30, and Sam threw his empty Coke can at Dean. “You could have warned me that Cas is, like, perfect.”

“Perfect? What…” Dean stared at Sam. “Cas ain’t perfect. Cas is in fact very far from perfect.”

“Really. Brains, artistic, athletic, good looks… how is he not perfect?” Sam demanded.

Dean shot Sam a weirded-out look. “Complete lack of social skills? Awkwardness? I love the guy, but he is a total nerd.”

“He seemed perfectly fine to me…” Sam said.

Dean snorted. “Yeah, well, you’re a nerd too.”

 

Cas dropped his bag in his room. “Off-limits, you ass,” he reprimanded himself. He pulled out his book and flipped open to the sketch he’d done of Sam. The boy was attractive, no doubt about that. And between Dean’s rambling and his own conversation with Sam, he knew the boy was highly intelligent. Athletic, with good stamina. And there was something about him that Cas could only describe as sweet. In short, Sam Winchester needed to come with a warning label.

Anna poked her head in. “Cas? Where’ve you been? Naomi was by looking for you, and Gabriel freaked because he didn’t know what to tell her.”

“I wish Michael would just give up already and call off the goons,” Castiel said, closing the sketchbook. “What did Gabriel tell her?”

“He went with the truth – that he had no idea where you were,” Anna said. “Just bugged him that he couldn’t do his usual tricks.”

“I was at a friend’s house studying. Okay?”

Anna reached out and swatted his head. “Of course it’s okay, you don’t answer to us. It’s just that it’s a lot easier to cover for you if we know where not to send them. I don’t understand why Michael still thinks there’s even a small possibility that Gabriel will change his mind after three years and decide to help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cas does pole vaulting because it means he gets to fly. Yes, that is the entire behind-the-scenes reason. He fell in love with math in geometry because I've watched Carl Sagan's Cosmos one time too many and I liked the explanation that Johannes Kepler did a lot of his stuff because he believed that through geometry, man could discover the mind of God.


	3. February 2nd

Sam answered the knock at the door, caught off-guard to see Cas there. “I’m sorry to come by unexpectedly, but I had to get out of my home. They’re unlikely to look for me here.”

“No problem,” Sam said, stepping back to let Cas in. “Dean’s not here, though, he took Bela to a movie.”

Cas nodded as he slipped off his shoes. “I was fairly certain he had plans with Bela today, that’s not a problem. I believe I owe you a look at my artwork, though.”

Sam knew the grin was stupid, but he couldn’t help it. Cas had come over to hang out with him! “Oh, well, you don’t have to show me, but I’d love to see it.”

Cas settled in on the couch while Sam got drinks. Once Sam was seated next to him, he held out a book open to a drawing of two angels fighting each other. “This is the one Dean was talking about. It’s the final battle in the War of Heaven, when Michael cast Lucifer into the cage of Hell.”

Sam examined the picture closely. Both figures radiated power, and Michael seemed to glow while Lucifer was in shadow. But what really caught Sam’s attention was the overwhelming sense of grief and loss. “This is usually portrayed as a triumph, isn’t it? The victory of God and goodness over the darkness and evil?”

“That is the typical interpretation,” Cas agreed. “But Michael and Lucifer were God’s two first-created, and the two most powerful. It always seemed to me that they would either be constantly fighting, or they would love each other fiercely. Or both, like brothers. So when this fight happened and they faced permanent separation…”

“Yeah, I get that,” Sam said. He tried to think how he’d feel if someone made him fight Dean to either death or permanent separation, and the picture was a good representation of the feelings he came up with.

“I started work on a bigger version, painting it in color, but it’s going very slowly. I’m working on real canvas instead of posterboard, which I’ve never actually done before, and I keep getting terrified that I’ll mess it up somehow.”

“I hope I’m still here when you get it done, I would love to see it,” Sam said.

Cas looked up at him. “You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, in June, after Dean graduates,” Sam said. “It’s frankly a miracle that Dad’s letting us stay here an entire semester. We move around a lot.”

“That must be terrible. It was hard enough moving the one time I did,” Cas said sympathetically.

Sam nodded and returned his attention to the picture. “I like how Lucifer actually looks like an angel here, instead of the guy with the hooves and horns and pitchfork. He was supposed to be the most beautiful of the angels, and even if Hell corrupted his beauty, it wouldn’t have been before Michael threw him down.”

“Exactly,” Cas said. He turned the page. “This is Gabriel, announcing the birth of Christ.”

“Hence the really bright star, and the sheep, and the barn in the background that I’m guessing is the manger where Mary laid him,” Sam said. “I can almost hear the trumpet blowing. Gabriel looks a little mischievous, though.”

Cas laughed. “I’ll confess I got a little self-indulgent with this one. Gabriel’s face is modeled after my uncle Gabriel, and he always looks at least a little mischievous.”

Sam joined the laughter. “Well, it works for him, I like it. Just never really thought of Gabriel as a joker before.”

“And, completing the set of archangels, here we have Raphael curing a man of blindness,” Cas said as he flipped the page again.

“I don’t know much about Raphael, aside from that he shares a name with a ninja turtle,” Sam confessed. “Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the work. He looks a little… cranky?”

“I don’t know why, Raphael is traditionally associated with healing and wisdom, but I always had this sense of him as not liking people very much. Ivory tower syndrome, perhaps, he prefers isolation and thought to actually having to deal with people.”

“Heh.” Sam shifted his attention to the man being healed. “Does he have a name?”

“No, this isn’t based on a particular story of Raphael. It’s not quite as good as the other two because I didn’t have a real moment in a story to put myself in.” Cas turned the page, and then hurriedly turned it again. “I’m sorry! I apologize, I forgot that came next, please don’t tell Dean. That’s why I don’t take this book to school ever. Mr. Prater has a copy of Michael and Lucifer, that’s where Dean saw it.”

Sam couldn’t help grinning at how flustered Cas was. “It’s okay, Cas. Nudes have been part of art since, like, ever. You don’t have to show me, but it’s okay that I saw it. I’ve seen artistic representations of unclothed people before. And… less artistic representations, all Dean’s fault on that one,” Sam admitted with a somewhat embarrassed look. He focused on the picture the book was open to now. “Who’s this?”

“My cousin, Anna,” Cas said, taking a moment to regain his composure. “She’s Dean’s age, you might have seen her around school. Long, flaming red hair.”

Sam thought for a minute and shook his head. “I don’t remember, but I might have. I’ll look for her now. She’s beautiful, and she looks really strong here.”

“I drew her as a warrior angel because she’s always fighting for something,” Cas said. “In this particular case, she was in an argument with our cousin Naomi, who should be on the next page.” He flipped. “Yes, this is Naomi. Also drawn as an angel, but not a warrior.”

“She looks like an HR director or something,” Sam said as he looked at Naomi. “The strength is still there, but the passion isn’t. She’s cold.”

“Exactly. If I do color paint versions of these, it would be even more obvious; Anna’s hair lends her to a natural sense of warmth and passion, while Naomi’s coloring is much colder, very light blonde hair and blue eyes.” Cas turned the page again. He sounded a little embarrassed as he said, “I promise I draw more than just angels. This one’s not actually based on anyone in particular, I just wanted to draw a warrior angel against the moon.”

“He looks kind of pensive, like he’s about to go into a battle he’s not sure he really wants to fight,” Sam said. “Like the War for Heaven, or one of the plagues or destruction of cities or something. Maybe the genocide of the nephilim.”

Cas looked at the picture. “You’re right, he does. Maybe he was one of the responsible ones who actually took care of his child, and he didn’t want to see her drown?”

“Makes sense,” Sam agreed. “His whole body, even his wings and sword, it’s aimed downward – except that his face is turned up toward Heaven. He wants to be on Earth but he can’t.”

Cas smiled and turned the page. “See? I don’t just draw angels.” The new drawing was of a dragon in flight. After that came more mythological creatures or scenes taken from stories. Some of them, Sam recognized on his own; others he had to ask Cas to tell him about.

The last picture was a little girl and a unicorn. When they flipped to it, Cas’s eyes misted a little, and he just stared at the picture for a long while. Sam was just about to close the book when Cas spoke. “This one is… this is special. Last year, my church had all of us in the youth group do a community service project over the summer. I chose to read to children in the hospital. This girl, Meg… she had cancer. Untreatable. Even after summer ended and the church project was over, I still went back to read to Meg. Her favorite book was a story about a unicorn who rescues a princess. I drew this for her, and the day I showed it to her was the last time I saw her alive. She died a few days after. She told me that the unicorn’s name was Castiel.”

“Was that the unicorn in the book?” Sam asked, not knowing what else to say.

Cas shook his head. “No. In the book, the unicorn was Valeryse. But since I drew Meg in place of the princess from the story, she decided that the unicorn was Castiel instead of Valeryse.”

“Why Castiel?”

Cas didn’t answer for a second, but something struck him. “Oh, that’s right! Cas is short for Castiel. I forgot you wouldn’t know that. Everyone at school calls me Castiel or Godwin, Dean was the first person to start calling me Cas, although Gabriel and Anna have started using it, and of course you. I’m Meg’s unicorn.”

Sam swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry. From the picture, I would never have even guessed Meg was sick, she’s so full of life here.”

“I haven’t seen this since October,” Castiel said. “Her unicorn couldn’t save her this time. No one but you, me, and Meg have ever seen this.”

“I’m so sorry. Are you…”

Cas wiped away a tear as it overflowed. “It’s all right. I’m all right. I haven’t been able to talk about it, but today, telling you… it felt like healing, finally. Not reopening the wound.”

Sam flipped back through the book, studying the artwork again. Both boys were so absorbed in the pictures that they jumped when the door banged open. “Sammy, get your… oh, hey, Cas. Wasn’t expecting to see you.”

Cas looked at his watch. “Oh, goodness! Sam, I’m sorry, you must be starved. I hadn’t realized how late it had gotten.”

“Long as you’re here, you may as well come to dinner with us,” Dean offered. “Sorry, the bad mood has nothing to do with you at all. I dumped Bela.”

“Why?” Cas asked. “I thought you were getting along very well.”

“I told her I had to get home to feed Sammy and she started the delay tactics. I called her a jealous, manipulative bitch and walked. No girl’s worth ditching my responsibilities for,” Dean said.

“Huh. You okay?” Sam asked as he grabbed his coat.

“Yeah, this wasn’t entirely unforeseen,” Dean said. “Come on, let’s go get burgers.”


	4. February 4th

Dean came home from running some errands after school. He tossed a folder to Sam. “Cas said to give this to you.”

Sam opened the folder with a raised eyebrow. Inside, he found a picture of him and Dean, drawn as angels. Dean was a warrior, with a sword and an aura of power; Sam carried a book and looked a little like a judge. The bond between the two was obvious, and Sam couldn’t help the smile at the way Dean was standing just enough in front of Sam to shield him. “Did you look at it?”

“No, what is it?” Dean came back from the kitchen to look. “We look badass.”

“Most of Cas’s angels do,” Sam said, admiring the work. “I like it. It gets us. Look how protective you are.”

“Yeah, and look how little you’d need it if you’d put down the book and pick up a sword,” Dean teased. “Of course, if you did that, you wouldn’t be Sammy. He even made your hair look badass.”

“Most of his angels have long hair, longer than mine,” Sam said. He slipped the picture back into the folder. “I wonder if he’s ever drawn himself as an angel…”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Are you seriously still on about how perfect he is? Because I promise you, man, he’s not.”

“Whatever, Dean,” Sam said, putting the folder aside.

 

“Cas? You okay?” Anna slipped into Cas’s room. “I heard about what happened in English…”

Cas pulled his brush away from the canvas, where the figure of Lucifer was starting to take shape. “I’m not. But I will be. Meg’s death isn’t as sore as it used to be, before… it’s healing, finally. But thank you.”

Anna took a seat on Cas’s bed. “So tell me about Dean Winchester.”

“Dean?” Cas gave her a baffled look as he went back to work. “You’re in government with us and don’t you have English with him?”

“Yeah, and on the track team, and I’m friends with Bela,” Anna said. “I’m not interested in Dean himself, I’m interested in what you think of him.”

“He has good taste in music, a near-instinctive grasp of engineering design, a strong anti-authoritarian streak, and explosive speed. He’s funny and very easy to like. He can be an ass sometimes, but when it comes down to it, his heart’s in the right place and if he likes you, he would do just about anything for you. If I had a big brother, I’d want him to be just like Dean. I wish I had been that for Balt.” Castiel stared quizzically at Anna. “Why do you ask?”

“Rumor mill,” Anna said with a shrug. “Been hearing everything from Dean is so awesome he’s even friends with giant nerds to Dean broke up with Bela for you.”

That made Cas frown. Rumors about him were nothing new, that went with being a target for bullies, but dragging Dean in was. “Dean broke up with Bela because she was pulling her jealous routine over Sam. I had nothing to do with it.”

“Who’s Sam?” Anna asked.

“Dean’s brother and the most important person in his life. He’s a freshman.” Cas put down his paintbrush and grabbed his current sketchbook, flipping it open to the sketch of Sam from the week before. “This guy.”

Anna looked curiously at the picture, face lighting up in recognition eventually. “I think I’ve seen him at track practice. Runs the mile and two mile?”

“And he’s on the sprint relay,” Cas added. “He’s got the same explosive speed as his brother, but he prefers the longer races.”

“Huh.” Anna set the book aside. “So tell me about Sam.”

“He’s smart. At least on my level, possibly smarter. He’s a lot less outgoing than Dean, but well worth the effort to get to know. He’s… insightful, curious, and a good listener. And his soul is one of the kindest I’ve ever met.” Cas wished he knew more about Sam to tell Anna.

“He have a girlfriend?”

“Not that I know of, but I don’t know who his friends are outside of Dean and me,” Cas said, and now that Anna brought it up, that bothered him. Of course, not as much as Anna asking the question in the first place. “He’s also fourteen. A bit young for you.”

“Me, yes,” Anna said with a smirk. “But I think I know someone a little younger who’d be all over that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of the series should be starting this weekend, if I can put down my book long enough to format and post it. A student got me reading the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies series by lending me Dawn of the Dreadfuls.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are like cookies for authors.


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